The story of the death of Jesus continues to be central for Christian theology and spirituality–for better and for worse. One aspect of the story that is not often discussed, though, is how Jesus approach to his death serves as a model for the lives of those who would walk with him. That is, even in his death, Jesus affirmed and modeled life.
My article, “The way Jesus died is an example of the way Jesus lived,” published in Gospel Herald, April 4, 1995, reflects on this theme.
Many people, we could call them the “cultured despisers,” reject the Old Testament as a “bloody book.” Many others, probably more, affirm the Old Testament as a “bloody book” and all too often use that “bloodiness” as a justification for their own.
This article, “Mercy not retribution,” argues for a reading of the Old Testament that recognizes the centrality of God’s mercy in the story–and sees that mercy as the biblical basis for Jesus’ own peaceable message.
It was originally published in The Mennonite, September 6, 2005.
What would our theology look like if we started with the story of Jesus and sought to shape our theology around Jesus’ own hierarchy of values? In my essay, The Person of Christ, I contrast an approach to Jesus’ identity that centers on the gospels and their story of Jesus life with an approach that centers on official creeds and confessions. I suggest that the latter emphasis all too often leads to a “christological evasion of Jesus” and an approach that separates Christian belief from Jesus’ call to radical discipleship.
This essay is the second in a series that examines core Christian doctrines, consistently asking what shape they should take if they are articulated in light of Jesus.
Christian theology is both part of the problem and part of the solution with regard to violence against children. My essay, “The Theological Roots of Violence Against Children,” which is part of my book in progress, Pacifism with Justice: The Biblical and Theological Case, addresses this tension.
I suggest that a problematic “logic of retribution” characterizes the theology of evangelical writers such as James Dobson and Millard Erickson. This logic underwrites harsh practices of child discipline that actually teach children to be violent. Drawing on the work of Alice Miller and others, I argue for more peace-oriented approaches to relating to children that are ultimately grounded in biblical theology.
Where does violence come from? What about the desire for retribution? Are there theologies that undergird violence? These are crucial questions for constructing a theology of Christian pacifism. They are addressed in this essay,“Theology, Retribution, and the Ways of Peace”, part of my book in process: Pacifism with Justice: The Biblical and Theological Case.
Here is a short review I wrote several years ago of J. Denny Weaver’s important book,The Nonviolent Atonement
This is a pdf link to an article I have published a couple of places (here). The first version was published in a British journal called Justice Reflections. This is the journal’s website (here). The version I am linking to was published in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s Web Journal (website).
Peace Theology 